Pillar five from The Seven Pillars of Health, by Dr. Colbert, covers detoxification.

He begins this section by explaining how many toxins we encounter throughout life and on a daily basis. He shares where these toxins come from such as air, food, and water. Pesticide exposure have been linked to Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and cancer. (p.152) “Rice grown in the United States has been shown to have 1.4 to 5 times the amount of arsenic in it than rice from Europe, India, or Bangladesh.” This has been the result of growing rice in soils previously used to grow cotton, where arsenic was used to kill boll weevils.” (p.153)

Another source of toxins could be the fillings in your teeth. Amalgam fillings, also called silver fillings, contain mercury. “When mercury enters the membrane of a cell, the body’s immune systems may identify them as an abnormal cell that must be destroyed.” The immune system then forms antibodies against normal cells and these can lead to rheumatoid arthritis, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, muscle pain, lupus, and other autoimmune diseases. (p. 158)

Many times we use toxic household products on a daily basis. These include stain removers, ammonia, bleach, glass cleaners, and furniture polish. (p.159) Building materials used in houses such as particleboard, carpet padding, carpet glues, upholstered furniture, curtains, and bedding can emit toxins that cause fatigue and headaches. (p. 160)

To get rid of toxins Dr. Colbert recommends using clean products as much as possible, eating more fiber, eating organic living foods, eating leaner cuts of organic grass fed meats, and sweating out the toxins with exercise.

Our liver is a gift to us from God, given as a detox system. You can keep it healthy and working well by eating, broccolli, cabbage, brussel sprouts, kale, and cauliflower. Supplements that help support the liver include, milk thistle extract, grape seed extract, green tea, NAC, and curcumin. Quercetin is an antioxidant that appears to help fight asthma, cancer, and heart disease. It is found primarily in onions and apples. (See p. 167)

This is a very condensed portion of what is contained in Dr. Colbert’s book. I still highly recommend his book for improvement of your health and consider it to be worth your time and money to dig deeper than what I have done here.

When you understand how many toxins we actually encounter, it can become depressing at times as you consider how little control we really have over our health or life. That is when I run to scriptures such as Luke 12:22-31 and rest in God’s promise to take care of me.

Have you ever had fillings removed and replaced by a dentist to get rid of mercury? If so, please share your experience below.